This time, though, the visit was different, because this induction weekend will be about honoring Selig, along with John Schuerholz, Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez.

For Selig, this is an appropriate honor for nearly a half-century in the game that began with the simplest goal a fan could have: He wanted his hometown of Milwaukee to have a team.

From acquiring the Brewers in 1970 at 35 years old, Selig rose to the highest level of Major League Baseball and led a reshaping of the entire sport that opened the door to a historic era of growth and prosperity.

"This is hard to describe," Selig said. "I've never been short of words, but this takes your breath away. This is history. This is baseball. This is societal. It sets you to thinking. It's just a great honor."

Selig's tour on Thursday included a visit to the basement archives, where Erik Strohl, the Hall of Fame's vice president of exhibitions and collections, displayed a table of artifacts of particular interest to Selig.

There was one of the very first baseballs with his signature as Commissioner on it, and the pitching rubber from Major League Baseball's first Interleague game -- one of Selig's initiatives.

There was a baseball from the Brewers' first game in 1970, and also an early Brewers hat. Only it wasn't a Brewers hat at all. It was made for the Seattle Pilots, but when Selig acquired the franchise a week before Opening Day, an imperfect "M" replaced the "S."

Selig stopped at Robin Yount's plaque and then at Don Sutton's, both players who played for Selig and are special to him. Finally, he came to the place where his own will be displayed.

In the two and a half years since Rob Manfred took over as Commissioner, Selig has busied himself teaching history classes at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He tells the students that teaching history is the thing he aspired to do when he graduated college, and then along came baseball, which has led him to this special place.

"My students ask me why, if I wanted to be a history teacher, which I did, how did all this happen?" he said. "I just say you couldn't write a script like this. It wouldn't be believable."

Selig recalled an evening in Washington, D.C., a decade ago, when he and Aaron were taking a walk after dinner. During their chat, Aaron stopped and began to chuckle.

"Bud, when we first met in Milwaukee, who could have imagined where we were headed?" Aaron said. "That I'd break Babe Ruth's record [for home runs] and you'd be Commissioner."

Selig smiles as he recalls the conversation and adds, "It's been a pretty special journey."

Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. You can follow him on Twitter @richardjustice.